PES member parties across Europe joined forces to campaign for the European elections, and a mass grassroots movement sprang up in support of Martin Schulz, aiming to ‘knock the vote’ in support of his candidacy. These campaigners spread the word about how the European citizens had for the very first time a genuine choice in the future direction of the EU.

In his acceptance speech to the PES Congress in Rome, Martin Schulz - PES Common Candidate for the European Commission Presidency - made clear that the social democrats are fighting to get Europeans back to work:

"During the next five years, for every action we take in the EU, we must be able to answer a simple question: How will this help to create jobs?"